CD Reviews

A Satisfying Selection of Stravinsky's Orchestral Works

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 04/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jukka-Pekka Saraste and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (and Scottish Chamber Orchestra in the 'Apollon musagete') perform these Stravinsky works with panache and incisive attention to the rhythmic complexities and sonorities. The grouping of the works is unusual in that it avoids the more well-known works in favor of some of the less often heard delicacies of the master's output.

Especially rewarding is this reading of the 'Song of the Nightingale', a work that deserves much wider performance, especially like the recent brilliance sculpted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya with the LA Philharmonic, the Disney Hall acoustics unveiling many of the Oriental mysteries and melodies and intonings seldom heard even on this excellent recording.

Jukka-Pekka Saraste is a clear headed, no nonsense conductor who unravels the scores of 'Symphony in C', 'Symphony in Three Movements', 'Apollon musagete', and the 'Dumbarton Oaks' and 'Basel' concertos with dexterity and a keen sense of architecture. The recorded sound is warm and clear and the orchestras are both articulate and excellent in the isolated solo work.

For a solid collection of lesser known Stravinsky this fine recording is a bonus. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, April 05"